Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Over the past ten years, there has been a significant stepping up of prison drug rehabilitation programmes with the objective of seeking to reduce demand for drugs within the prison system through education, treatment and rehabilitation services for drug-related prisoners. Particular initiatives include the provision of detoxification, methadone maintenance, education programmes, addiction counselling and drug therapy programmes coupled with work, training and education access. Rehabilitation addresses needs beyond the physical management of addiction and also endeavours to equip individuals with life and vocational skills that may help them reintegrate into society on discharge.

Drug rehabilitation programmes for prisoners involve a significant multidimensional input by a diverse range of general and specialist services provided by the Prison Service and visiting statutory and non-statutory organisations. At present, any person entering prison giving a history of opiate use and testing positive for opioids is offered a medically-assisted symptomatic detoxification if clinically indicated. Patients can, as part of the assessment process, discuss with health care staff other treatment options. These may include stabilisation on methadone maintenance for persons who wish to continue on maintenance while in prison and when they return to the community on release. Prisoners who on committal are engaged in a methadone substitution programme in the community will in the main have their methadone substitution treatment continued while in custody.

Mountjoy, Dochas, Cloverhill, Wheatfield, Midlands and Portlaoise Prisons and St. Patrick's Institution offer methadone maintenance and detoxification treatment. Merchants Quay Ireland provides a full range of counselling services to these prisons. Loughan House, Shelton Abbey, Cork and Castlerea Prisons are also serviced by Merchants Quay Ireland who provide addiction counselling services which are in the main focused on alcohol and cannabis addictions and are abstinence driven. In Limerick Prison there are two models of counselling in operation - an abstinence based model and a harm reduction model. The counselling service is provided by Merchants Quay Ireland and ALJEFF Treatment Centre. Methadone substitution treatment is provided if clinically indicated. Merchants Quay Ireland and Coolmine provide a counselling service to the training unit.

It is the intention of the Prison Service, in line with its drugs policy and strategy entitled Keeping Drugs Out of Prisons, to continue the expansion and enhancement of drug treatment services across the prison system and to reduce the demand for drugs within the prison system through enhanced security measures as well as education, treatment and rehabilitation services for drug-addicted prisoners.

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